medieval korea rules!

i love medieval korean historical dramas with english subtitles. when i was doing my coursework i used to watch AGE OF WARRIORS, which followed the drama that unfolded in the court of the emperor in 12th century korea. in its 130-some episodes, one finds one of the best series ever broadcast on television. when i came to dc, i suffered a dry spell. i even emailed the public television stations here begging for them to run A of W (i missed the first 30 episodes or so) but i was rebuffed!

as of late i've been watching EMPEROR OF THE SEA on AZN television. this series has 52 or so episodes and focuses on the development of trade routes and merchant companies in 9th century korea. there are only about 6 episodes left, and i am forlorn. just like A of W, E of the S is chocked full of cheezy costumes and music, melodramatic pauses and stares between characters, and wickedly simple, stylized sets. there are also ridiculously unrealistic fight scenes featuring pirates, military guys, the main characters, and the escort warriors. some of the silly devices they use in the show that i find immensely amusing include:

1. in american tv and cinema, when people ride horses they kick the horse in the side and say, "yah!" or "giddyup!" and the horse goes until one says, "whoa." in medieval korea, when riding a horse at a gallop it is evidently imperative to say "hyah! hyah! hyah!" on every "downbeat," every time one's butt hits the saddle in the galloping rhythm. needless to say, it is IMPOSSIBLE for a large group of warriors to sneak up on anybody with such a cachophony of "hyahs!" ringing out for everyone to hear.

2. since the show is about the development of trade routes and merchant companies, several scenes in E of the S take place in the marketplace--in Dang, in Moo-Jinju, in Yangju--and if one character is walking the aisles between the booths (which they call "stores") and sees someone they DO NOT want to run into coming toward them through the crowd, the charcater merely jumps into an "alley" and half squats facing the wall with their hands and cheek on it, and the other person/ people walk on by without seeing the "hiding" character. evidently vision, or specifically peripheral vision, was not in medieval korea what it is today. thank god they didn't have cars. they would have killed themselves and all medieval korean pedestrians stepping into crosswalks.

3. there is a lot of silent thinking with music playing in the background in this show. often this thinking takes place while standing on some rocks looking out at the sea. the characters stand alone, with perfect posture, as if they are engaging in the yoga pose Standing Mountain. i love it when they stand and gaze at the sea thinking Intense Thoughts. the intense thinking is enhanced when the character cries, which in medieval korea only involved the spilling of tears out of the eyes. they never scrunch up their faces in sadness/anger/anguish, and they never make a crying sound. there is just Standing, Thinking, and Tear-spilling.

4. they also use excellent phrasing in the translation of the show. one of my favorites is when the lackey returns to the main group of characters after having been sent on some errand and the head person of the group will always say, "did you find out?" not "what did you find out?" or "did you get the stuff?" but always, "did you find out?"

5. being escort warriors and medieval koreans in general, where danger lurks around every corner (although if one would look, they would see it lurking there, hands and cheek to the wall), they all carry long swords in scabbards. but they don't have any kind of device attaching this weapon to their belts. they just CARRY their swords. all the time, in their left hands, there is a sword. even when they are riding the horses ("hyah! hyah! hyah!"), they must ride holding the reins with their right hand, with the sword in their left. very inconvenient.


EMPEROR OF THE SEA IS ALMOST AS GOOD AS AGE OF WARRIORS. the korean broadcasting system is the shiznitt! here is the E of the S website. i hope you read korean:
http://www.kbs.co.kr/end_program/drama/jangbogo/index.html